North Dakota Birding Hotline Reports
March 2009
The North Dakota Birding Hotline is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Birding Society. To access the telephone birding hotline, call 701-355-8554.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
Blizzard birds, flood birds, and new arrivals top our report this week.
Dean Riemer was sand-bagging north of the Fargo airport on March 24 when a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK flew to a perch nearby. For details, Dean is at driemer@kwh.com.
Keith Corliss had a FOX SPARROW in his West Fargo yard on March 24, recorded a fly-over by six TUNDRA SWANS, and was also visited by a BROWN CREEPER. Contact him at koolhand@juno.com.
From Horace, Linda Gregg reported a beautiful PURPLE FINCH at her feeders on March 29, but only four COMMON REDPOLLS remained, compared to 150-200 earlier. She's at lgregg@far.midco.net.
Two seasonal firsts on March 24 for Jean Legge's yard north of Valley City. They were SONG SPARROW and FOX SPARROW. On March 27, Jean counted seven immature BALD EAGLES in one tree and other individuals near Baldhill Dam for a total of 20-25 for the day plus five RED-TAILED HAWKS. Jean saw more BALD EAGLES on March 29 plus a PILEATED WOODPECKER along the Sheyenne River Scenic Byway, as well as male and female HOODED MERGANSERS. Contact Jean at 701-845-4762.
Larry Igl reports many more new arrivals in Stutsman County. March 17 brought a MALLARD pair and KILLDEER; followed on the 20th by GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, SNOW GOOSE, HOODED MERGANSER, and MOURNING DOVE; CACKLING GOOSE, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, COMMON GRACKLE and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD on March 21; NORTHERN HARRIER on March 22; GREAT BLUE HERON, WOOD DUCK and COMMON MERGANSER on March 23; NORTHERN PINTAIL on the 24th; AMERICAN COOT and SONG SPARROW on March 26; and NORTHERN FLICKER on the 28th. After the first snowstorm, Larry's yard attracted 150 COMMON REDPOLLS, three HOARY REDPOLLS, FOX SPARROW, more than 75 DARK-EYED JUNCOS, 12 PINE SISKINS, three AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and later...a NORTHERN SHRIKE. On March 28, Larry watched a kettle of eagles and hawks over Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. The mix included more than 11 adult BALD EAGLES and 76 RED-TAILED HAWKS. Larry believes at least two pairs of MERLINS may nest in Jamestown this year. Call him at 701-253-5511.
Dan Buchanan watched wave after wave of AMERICAN ROBINS fly over his yard in Jamestown on March 25. He estimated the total at 150-200. Later in the day, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK came calling. You can reach Dan at 701-252-6604.
A male HOARY REDPOLL stopped at Dan Svingen's feeders in Bismarck on March 25. Also visiting were 30 DARK-EYED JUNCOS, 30 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and 20 COMMON REDPOLLS. On March 28, Ila Svingen saw a SNOWY OWL along I-94 at mile marker 94. Dan called up an EASTERN SCREECH-OWL at the creek near his home on March 29. Contact him at 701-250-4443, extension 107.
The March 24 blizzard in Bismarck brought lots of birds to Corey Ellingson's yard. They included EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, AMERICAN ROBIN, EUROPEAN STARLING, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, CEDAR WAXWING, DARK-EYED JUNCO, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, COMMON GRACKLE, HOUSE FINCH, COMMON REDPOLL, PINE SISKIN, and HOUSE SPARROW. Corey's new e-mail address is crackerjackbirder@bis.midco.net.
The HORNED LARKS that visited Peder Stenslie's yard last week returned on March 25, and this time there were eight of then, and a SNOW BUNTING became a new yard bird. The feeders also attracted two WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, three EUROPEAN STARLINGS, many COMMON REDPOLLS, eight or 10 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, six DARK-EYED JUNCOS, two HOUSE FINCHES, a few HOUSE SPARROWS, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. Another highlight was the SHARP-SHINNED HAWK attack. For more information, contact Peder at peder.stenslie@sendit.nodak.edu.
Sherry Leslie's March24 "blizzard birds" included hundreds of COMMON REDPOLLS, one HOARY REDPOLL, PINE SISKINS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and a season-first AMERICAN TREE SPARROW. A March 28 visit to the Garrison Dam tailrace and surrounding areas produced good views of a female SNOWY OWL and another near Audubon National Wildlife Refuge, abundant AMERICAN ROBINS and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, a BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE close to Minot and nesting RED-TAILED HAWKS at their coulee near Burlington. Sherry and Gary birded the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge on March 30, finding three AMERICAN KESTRELS, four BALD EAGLES, seven RED-TAILED HAWKS, a likely FERRUGINOUS HAWK, SNOWY OWL, NORTHERN HARRIER, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, and a SWAINSON'S HAWK on a pole near Burlington. Contact Sherry at bird_nd@yahoo.com.
From New Town, Bernice Houser is seeing fewer COMMON REDPOLLS, and notes they are outnumbered by DARK-EYED JUNCOS. She's at sanishnd@rtc.coop.
On March 24, Charles Taft saw two AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS below his feeder in Minot, and he added a RED-TAILED HAWK on the west side of town on March 30. Contact him at cjtaft@mac.com.
Rod Fossen drove a semi-circle east, north and west of Minot about 10 miles out on March 29, where he recorded two AMERICAN KESTRELS including his first male, at least 10 RED-TAILED HAWKS plus several eagles and a MERLIN, a larger unidentified falcon, many WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, several coveys of GRAY PARTRIDGE and some RING-NECKED PHEASANTS. Contact him at rfossen@min.midco.net.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, March 24, 2009.
The bluebird and meadowlark sightings continue, but many other species are being reported this week.
Corey Ellingson and Clark Talkington discovered a GLAUCOUS GULL and a FRANKLIN'S GULL at the Bismarck landfill, plus about 5,500 RING-BILLED GULLS on March 21. Their travels through Morton, Sioux, and Oliver counties revealed lots of bird activity. They also saw a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER on the ice at the Cannonball River outlet, and migrating raptors including eight adult and two immature BALD EAGLES, 13 NORTHERN HARRIERS, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 99 RED-TAILED HAWKS, seven FERRUGINOUS HAWKS, 21 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, and 16 AMERICAN KESTRELS. Other sightings included seven KILLDEER, three EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES at Solen, two SNOWY OWLS south of Center, seven NORTHERN SHRIKES, five EASTERN BLUEBIRDS with four MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS in the same flock, 500 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, five NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and 32 COMMON GOLDENEYES at the Mandan Refinery and 56 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. For details, contact Corey at tcellingson@juno.com
Janelle Masters saw a flock of 16-20 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS about 10 miles west of Mandan on March 21, a pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS south of Mandan and two more pairs of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and a lone MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. She's at janelle.masters@bsc.nodak.edu.
Peder Stenslie saw his first AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS of the year on March 20. Three of them appeared in his Mandan yard, along with his first WESTERN MEADOWLARK. The following day, he saw an AMERICAN KESTREL perched on a powerline just north of Mandan. During the March 24 blizzard, Peder's yard hosted more than 100 COMMON REDPOLLS, some AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, and a lone HORNED LARK. Contact him at peder.stenslie@sendit.nodak.edu.
Ron Martin reported the first real push of migrants into north-central North Dakota on March 20-21. All he found on March 20 were AMERICAN ROBINS, AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS. He counted many more species the following day in McLean and McHenry counties. Ron saw MALLARDS and NORTHERN PINTAILS below Garrison Dam, two LESSER SCAUP on the river, 10 BALD EAGLES, three NORTHERN HARRIERS, five RED-TAILED HAWKS, six AMERICAN KESTRELS, MERLIN, SHORT-EARED OWL, 22 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, and five MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. Seasonal firsts for the day were KILLDEER and HERRING GULL. Seven hours of birding Ward County on March 22 produced a few CANADA GEESE, some MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAILS, and COMMON GOLDENEYES...most of them heading south. Raptors included 44 BALD EAGLES, seven NORTHERN HARRIERS, 12 RED-TAILED HAWKS, FERRUGINOUS HAWK, three ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, six AMERICAN KESTRELS, and a MERLIN. Ron also recorded 14 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS in the Souris Valley northwest of Burlington. For details, he's at jrmartin@srt.com.
Sherry Leslie recorded some seasonal firsts on March 22. She saw two NORTHERN HARRIERS, AMERICAN ROBINS, six WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, 18 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, and four RING-BILLED GULLS. Visitors to her yard near Burlington included NORTHERN GOSHAWK and many MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. Contact Sherry at bird_nd@yahoo.com.
David Walsh saw his first HARRIS' SPARROW of the year east of Minot on March 21. Other sightings that day included a solitary HOUSE FINCH, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, EUROPEAN STARLINGS, AMERICAN ROBIN, PINE SISKINS, COMMON REDPOLLS, and AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS. March 20 brought AMERICAN CROWS and many CANADA GEESE plus the first DARK-EYED JUNCOS and AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS. On the 19th, David saw a lone HOUSE FINCH. For details on those sightings, he's at davidw@ndak.net.
Dave and Ellin Lindee saw a lone MOURNING DOVE near Parshall on March 17. They're at daveandellin@srt.com.
From Ross, Barb Meiers reports her first DARK-EYED JUNCOS of the season on March 21. She is still seeing lots of COMMON REDPOLLS and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES. Barb's husband reported seeing a WESTERN MEADOWLARK a few days earlier. Contact them at barbmeiers@hotmail.com.
A March 21 drive to the North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park proved disappointing for Bernice and Alvin Houser. All they saw was two AMERICAN KESTRELS, a few AMERICAN ROBINS, and a couple AMERICAN CROWS. Elsewhere, they found two probable WESTERN MEADOWLARKS and a female NORTHERN HARRIER northeast of Watford City. Their feeders near New Town attracted more than 200 COMMON REDPOLLS and a few DARK-EYED JUNCOS. More juncos showed up the following day, but there were fewer redpolls. You can reach the Housers at sanishnd@rtc.coop.
Eve Freeberg recorded a KILLDEER in Grand Forks County on March 17, along with a RED-TAILED HAWK on a nest on March 19; MALLARD, EASTERN PHOEBE, 50 BALD EAGLES going north, COOPER'S HAWK, two SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS and an AMERICAN KESTREL on March 20; two COMMON GRACKLES with a flock of 40 CEDAR WAXWINGS and one BOHEMIAN WAXWING on March 21; a RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, about 2,000 CANADA GEESE with a few CACKLING GEESE and another bald eagle nest on the Red River north of Grand Forks (for a total of five) on March 22; NORTHERN PINTAIL, LESSER SCAUP, her first flock of about 100 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, EUROPEAN STARLINGS and COMMON GRACKLES on March 23; and HERRING GULL, REDHEAD, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW and SNOW GEESE on March 24. Contact Eve at 701-741-8105.
Also from Grand Forks, Dave Lambeth discovered an early FOX SPARROW at his feeders on March 23, and reports a PEREGRINE FALCON is now at the "Smiley" water tower. It is believed to be last year's nesting female. For details, try Dave at davidlambeth58201@yahoo.com.
Rod Fossen found a large BALD EAGLE in a tree at the Devils Lake city limits on March 17. Later in the day, he added a flying male NORTHERN HARRIER east of Devils Lake. Rod is at rfossen@min.midco.net
Dan Buchanan saw a juvenile light-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK in McElroy Park in Jamestown on March 21. His yard hosted more than 100 COMMON REDPOLLS, a small flock of DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and a dozen or so AMERICAN ROBINS on March 22. For more information, try 701-252-6604.
Jean Legge found several WESTERN MEADOWLARKS in Barnes County, near the Eckelson exit off I-94 on March 17. She adds that a friend living north of Valley City saw two TURKEY VULTURES last week. Contact Jean at jlegge@daktel.com.
New arrivals at Nicole Self's farm in the Sheyenne Grasslands on March 18 were CANADA GEESE, KILLDEER, BALD EAGLE, and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. She's at nsowinski@yahoo.com.
Kay Buri drove from Portal to Enderlin on March 18, and observed two mature BALD EAGLES west of Pingree, WESTERN MEADOWLARK west of Enderlin, another mature BALD EAGLE between Balfour and Bergen, and a large group of CANADA GEESE north of Enderlin. Contact Kay at kayaktheprairie@srt.com.
An early FOX SPARROW appeared in Linda Gregg's yard at Horace on March 24. Linda says she still has a large number of COMMON REDPOLLS with a few HOARY REDPOLLS, and says she saw a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER earlier. Contact Linda at lgregg@far.midco.net.
Connie Norheim reports seeing two PEREGRINE FALCONS in downtown Fargo on March 22, and says she has had an invasion of DARK-EYED JUNCOS in her yard. She's at 701-232-4386.
Janet Knodel saw a KILLDEER flying in south Fargo on March 21, and also recorded her season-first AMERICAN ROBIN that day. Contact her at janet.knodel@ndsu.edu.
Rick Holbrook had PINE SISKINS return to his feeders in Fargo on March 20, after they had been absent most of the winter. Rick also has both COMMON REDPOLLS and HOARY REDPOLLS. March 16 brought a COMMON GRACKLE to his feeders, with an AMERICAN ROBIN nearby. And on March 21, a CHIPPING SPARROW was seen around Rick's feeders. For details on those sightings, try Rick at fholbrook@cableone.net.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.
Lots of spring arrivals this week, even though many parts of the State are far from spring.
Dan and Marlene Rogers went to Fort Yates on March 15 and found a bird that's uncommon for winter or spring: an EASTERN PHOEBE was present below the settling pond near the river. Dan says they had several good looks at the bird. For more information, contact Dan at 701-224-5530.
Bluebird sightings have been almost common in recent days. Lillian Crook of Medora had a second-hand report of eight MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS in the South Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park on March 8, and then she saw seven of them in the park on March 13, along with two TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES. She also saw a BALD EAGLE over Medora that day. On March 11, Lillian had observed a NORTHERN HARRIER at Lone Butte. Contact her at lilliancrook@hotmail.com.
Bob Scarlett reported seeing a male MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD on a fencepost southeast of Bismarck on February 26, his earliest-ever sighting. On March 8, he recorded a SNOWY OWL about five miles southwest of Mandan. He's at bobkat@btinet.net.
Rod Fossen saw a single male MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD south of Devils Lake near Camp Grafton on March 6. He noted there was a strong west wind that day. Contact Rod at rfossen@min.midco.net.
Janelle Masters discovered two MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS about 10 miles north of Mandan on March 15. She also saw a perched HORNED LARK and a hunting ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. She's at janelle.masters@bsc.nodak.edu.
Quite a few sightings of another early spring bird. From Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge, biologist Mike Rabenberg counted seven WESTERN MEADOWLARKS on March 16. Other sightings from the west end of the refuge: two male NORTHERN HARRIERS, two AMERICAN CROWS, a TREE SPARROW, hundreds of HORNED LARKS and many CANADA GEESE, but no ducks or gulls. On March 15, Mike saw a lone WESTERN MEADOWLARK just south of the North Dakota line in Marshall County, South Dakota. He mentions that Wendy Wollmuth's homestead south of Moffit was visited by RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS over the March14-15 weekend.
Eve Freeberg recorded a lone WESTERN MEADOWLARK in Grand Forks County on March 17, along with a COMMON GOLDENEYE, four GADWALLS and a FRANKLIN'S GULL. Eve's other recent sightings included several pairs of CANADA GEESE and some singles on March 15, plus a BALD EAGLE on the nest, but not incubating, at Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge. On the following day, she saw a NORTHERN HARRIER and saw single MERLINS on both the 15th and 16th at the south end of Grand Forks. For details, Eve is at 701-741-8105.
From Jamestown, Larry Igl reports two WESTERN MEADOWLARKS southeast of town, another northeast of town, and three more near Woodworth on March 15. Other sightings included many reports of CANADA GEESE--both pairs and flocks--near Jamestown and Woodworth on March 14-16, a RING-BILLED GULL in a flock of about 50 CANADA GEESE at the Jamestown lagoon on March 16, several AMERICAN ROBINS singing in northeast Jamestown on March 15, and one near Woodworth the following day, an AMERICAN KESTREL at the Northern Prairie Center on March 16, and unidentified ducks flying near Wimbledon. Earlier, Larry reported the first pair of CANADA GEESE on March 8. The March 9-10 blizzard brought quite a few birds to his feeders in northeast Jamestown. Visitors included more than 100 COMMON REDPOLLS, 30 PINE SISKINS, seven HOARY REDPOLLS, about a dozen HOUSE FINCHES, and two EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES. Meanwhile, his flowering crab tree attracted three CEDAR WAXWINGS and a BOHEMIAN WAXWING. For more on those sightings, call Larry at 701-253-5511.
Dan Buchanan conducted his own "backyard blizzard census" in northeast Jamestown. He counted two BLUE JAYS, AMERICAN ROBIN, AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, a juvenile SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, HOUSE FINCHES, PURPLE FINCHES, PINE SISKINS, and COMMON REDPOLLS. Dan added 25 or so CEDAR WAXWINGS doing a brief stopover in his trees on March 14 and two BALD EAGLES over northwest Jamestown on March 15. He's at 701-252-6604.
Jean Legge was excited to see a single AMERICAN TREE SPARROW north of Valley City on March 15, and she added five more on the following day. Call Jean at 701-845-4762.
From Grand Forks, Betsy Batstone-Cunningham recorded her first CANADA GOOSE on March 15, and added an AMERICAN ROBIN, female PURPLE FINCH, and three CEDAR WAXWINGS. She reported watching a NORTHERN SHRIKE for four days and also saw a MERLIN. Contact Betsy at batsham@gra.midco.net.
Kay Buri discovered a SNOWY OWL east of Niobe on March 14, and watched her first pair of CANADA GEESE land north of Kenmare. She's at kayaktheprairie@srt.com.
Kim Breuer thought she had a common nighthawk in Minot on March 12, but concluded the bird was actually a MERLIN. Kim notes the bird shows up about this time each spring and stays all summer. Contact her at breuer@srt.com.
Bernice Houser has been watching the EUROPEAN STARLINGS at her birdbath near New Town. On March 11, she reported lots of COMMON REDPOLLS still around. She's at sanishnd@rtc.coop.
Corey Ellingson found some early waterfowl during his March 14 visits to the Missouri River as well as Nelson Lake in Oliver County. At Nelson Lake, he saw three CACKLING GEESE, three AMERICAN WIGEON plus four more on the River, seven NORTHERN PINTAILS followed by a flock of 50 new arrivals and then 12 more on the river, two COMMON GOLDENEYES and 14 more on the river, 23 COMMON MERGANSERS and another two on the river. He recorded lone GREEN-WINGED TEAL on the river and at Kist Livestock in Mandan. Back in Bismarck, Corey added COMMON GRACKLE and discovered 11 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES roosting in his yard. On the following day, he visited Fox Island in Bismarck, where he saw COMMON MERGANSER, COMMON GOLDENEYE, AMERICAN WIGEON, and NORTHERN PINTAIL, but noted that the first 30 gulls had arrived-- a mix of CALIFORNIA GULLS and RING-BILLED GULLS. Back in his yard, he saw a flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS and a singing AMERICAN ROBIN, while his mother counted eight COMMON GRACKLES in the north part of town. You can get more information from Corey at tcellingson@juno.com.
Ron Martin, Sherry Leslie, and David Walsh birded Garrison Dam and Audubon National Wildlife Refuge on March 14. They observed three CACKLING GEESE on the Missouri River plus four NORTHERN PINTAILS, two RING-NECKED DUCKS, a LONG-TAILED DUCK, and seven BUFFLEHEADS. They added two RED-TAILED HAWKS, four dark-morph and three light-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, a MERLIN and a PRAIRIE FALCON in McLean County, and a GREAT HORNED OWL on a nest in Ward County. For details, contact Ron at jrmartin@srt.com.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, March 10, 2009.
A couple rarities top our report this week, plus some additional waxwing sightings and a correction.
Keith Corliss discovered a BARRED OWL at Armour Park in West Fargo on March 7, and says he got four good looks at it. Keith says it was only his third for the species in Cass County. Dean Riemer also saw the owl. For more information, you can contact Keith at 701-371-2709 or koolhand@juno.com.
Tim Driscoll found an EVENING GROSBEAK in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, on March 7, and Dave Lambeth believes it was the first in either Grand Forks or East Grand Forks in more than 10 years. On March 8, Dave saw several CEDAR WAXWINGS, the first since December. For details, try Dave at davidlambeth58201@yahoo.com.
From Horace, Linda Gregg reported a flock of 30 or so CEDAR WAXWINGS at her feeders on March 6. She says that's the largest number she has seen this winter. Contact her at lgregg@far.midco.net.
Ron Martin started off March with a light-morph RED-TAILED HAWK in southwest Minot. He says it's rare for the species to over-winter here. Another sighting that day was a dark-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. On March 5, Ron saw a GOLDEN EAGLE perched south of Sawyer, and also noted that HORNED LARK numbers seemed to be increasing. Ron found another ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK near Minot on March 6, along with an AMERICAN CROW in Sawyer, where they don't over-winter. On March 7, Ron birded the Garrison Dam area and McLean County, finding a BALD EAGLE on a nest near the fish hatchery, about 1,000 HORNED LARKS in Ward and McLean counties, and 30 AMERICAN ROBINS at the boat landing, but very few ducks and no gulls. On March 8, Ron moved on to McHenry County. He saw three CANADA GEESE at J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge and a WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL at the headquarters, two occupied bald eagle nests, a GOLDEN EAGLE, a SNOWY OWL near Sawyer, 16 COMMON RAVENS including nine at Denbigh, four AMERICAN ROBINS and 80 CEDAR WAXWINGS in Towner, plus a RED CROSSBILL at Denbigh. For more information, contact Ron at jrmartin@srt.com.
Janelle Masters birded the Garrison Dam area on March 8. While watching a BALD EAGLE on the nest in the Wolf Creek area, a SNOWY OWL flew over. She also saw a BELTED KINGFISHER at the tailrace, and reported numerous SHARP-TAILED GROUSE "everywhere" on the drive from Mandan. For more information, it's janelle.masters@bsc.nodak.edu.
Lillian Crook counted 16 CANADA GEESE during a March 8 walk along the Little Missouri River. You can reach her at lilliancrook@hotmail.com.
From southwestern North Dakota, Jan Sailer reports a GYRFALCON had been hanging around near Hettinger in early March. She has been seeing lots of redpolls in her yard, and observed 40 or 50 CEDAR WAXWINGS in her yard the previous week. Contact Jan at jngsailer@yahoo.com.
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES have been frequent visitors to Bernice Houser's feeders near New Town. She noted that when the deer left her yard, the COMMON REDPOLLS, HAIRY WOODPECKERS, HOUSE SPARROWS, and EUROPEAN STARLINGS returned. She's at sanishnd@rtc.coop.
Dave and Ellin Lindee reported the usual SNOW BUNTINGS and longspurs during a March 5 drive from Minot to New Town, but they also saw hundreds of HORNED LARKS along the roadsides, especially Highway 23 and County Road 14. They report RING-NECKED PHEASANTS, SHARP-TAILED GROUSE and GRAY PARTRIDGE were abundant. Contact them at daveandellin@srt.com.
The Wayne Easley group saw a SNOWY OWL near Goodrich on March 3, but Wayne reports it's been a slow winter at his feeders near Harvey. For details, it's 701-324-2344.
From the Valley City State University campus, Luke Vaneps observed a male NORTHERN CARDINAL near the student center on March 3, and then fellow-student Dustin Krueger saw the female on March 4. You can reach Luke at luke.vaneps@vcsu.edu.
Charlie Christianson reported hundreds of HORNED LARKS along U.S. Highway 2 between Devils Lake and Lakota, especially on County Road 2 east of Devils Lake. He also observed a couple flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS and two SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. He's at christic@gra.midco.net.
Betsy Batstone-Cunningham watched a NORTHERN SHRIKE along the Greenway in Grand Forks on March 7, and she points out that the North Dakota Birding Society spring gathering meeting time on May 23 should have been 6:00am instead of 6:00pm. Contact her at batsham@gra.midco.net.
From northwestern Minnesota, Cleone Stewart says the Frazee area has had an amazing number of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES this winter, plus redpolls and a few EUROPEAN STARLINGS, quite a few nuthatches, some AMERICAN CROWS, three sets of BLUE JAYS, plus woodpeckers including PILEATED WOODPECKERS. You can access the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report at www.visitdetroitlakes.com.
Another website to visit is www.birdingdrives.com. There, you can learn about the upcoming 6th annual Potholes and Prairie Birding Festival, which will be headquartered in Jamestown this time.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.
Only one reported sighting this week, but we have more details on the spring meeting.
Rod Fossen of Minot saw his first-ever PILEATED WOODPECKER on February 25. The bird was climbing a utility pole along Highway 2 near the Rugby rest stop, and Rod says he was amazed by how quickly it climbed. For more details, contact Rod at rfossen@min.midco.net.
We previously mentioned the dates for the spring meeting of the North Dakota Birding Society. Betsy Batstone-Cunningham says she has reserved a block of rooms at the Select Inn of Grafton for the May 23-24 get-together. The location will allow for field trips in Walsh, Pembina, and Cavalier counties, which include the Pembina Gorge, Icelandic State Park, Tetrault Woods State Forest, and Salt Lake. The group will meet at 6pm on May 23 at the Select Inn. If you're interested in reserving one of the rooms, call the motel at 701-352-0888 by April 22. You can also contact Betsy for more information. It's batsham@gra.midco.net.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
